In San Francisco, depressed music teacher Joe (Seth Rogen) observes his student jazz band practice at the local conservatory. After riding his bike home, Joe is surprised to learn his stay-at-home wife Angela (Olivia Wilde) has invited their upstairs neighbours, Piña (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton), over for dinner at their apartment. While Joe is extremely irritated that the couple’s late-night loud noises have interrupted his sleep, and Angela is ill-prepared for a dinner party, the people upstairs arrive and the night begins.

Directed by lead Olivia Wilde, the movie is the fifth adaptation of the original stage play. A closed location with only four leads, this universal story about marital tensions is ripe for reinterpretation. Angela is at her wits’ end, neurotically trying to regain a sense of passion in her life with Joe, who is resigned to his own personal and professional failings. Staying with Joe for the sake of their child, Angela sees an exciting break in her norm and a chance for a better way of life with the introduction of her intriguing neighbours into their apartment. The seductive Piña and smooth, Zen-like Hawk seem to have their acts together, leading a very modern lifestyle that seems to be an idyllic balance of honesty, spirituality and sensuality. While the cast and location are lean, the characters, apartment and central concept of comparison as the thief of joy are explored to the nth degree.

Verdict: A brilliantly acted, touching, farcical exploration of the emptiness of keeping up with the Joneses.

5 stars.

Luke McWilliams, themovieclub.net. Viewed at Dendy Cinemas.